Technical Abstract:
Microbial production of fuel ethanol is not performed under sterile, pure-culture conditions. It has been well established that many bacteria contaminate this process and are responsible for a significant decrease in productivity. In response to this, producers often rely on antibiotics to control bacterial infections, but many of the contaminants exist as biofilms that may be more resistant to antibiotic treatment. Using a collection of bacteria, primarily lactic acid bacteria isolated from ethanol production plants, we have developed a miniaturized system for rapid assessment of biofilm formation. We will discuss the application of this system to assess the susceptibility of fuel ethanol contaminants to antibiotics, such as virginiamycin.